martedì 5 marzo 2013

Religions: Vehicle of peace and solidarity

Most
recognize that religion is natural to man, from the distant primeval
times.

Primitive man in fact felt surrounded by a hostile nature:
thunders and lightnings, fires, torrential rains, floods, earthquakes, were
attributed to a supernatural entity rather irascible, which, however, he
entrusted for protection, feeling a twig with respect to adverse natural
environment, to the point of attempting benevolence with offerings consisting of
animal sacrifices, sometimes human, in special places called "temples".

Religion
also was, and still is, driven by a need, quite human, of justice, which
resulted, as well as in the present, in the hope of a supernatural life, in
which earthly suffering could find a fair compensation.

This attitude of
subordination to the supernatural was widespread, since ancient times, and in
all the inhabited world: from the Hittites to the Egyptians, the Indians of
America, and equally widespread was the practice of propitiatory
sacrifices.

Emerged spontaneously from human aggregates some figures of
saints and sorcerers who were consulted for their apparent wisdom, talent that
they showed had been transposed by divine inspiration, to induce petitioners to
follow their directions, though absurd. In this way were born religious rites,
rich in symbolic gestures designed to implore victory in tribal clashes or cures
to enhance the effectiveness of rudimentary treatment.

In many
religions there are one or more gods, almost always anthropomorphic, at the top
of the supernatural world, which are essential to give strength to the
commandments given by the king, who often made believe to come from a divine
origin. A swagger that has been perpetuated by the pharaohs to the present
time.

And has in
fact to be remembered that at the time of Japan's surrende,r at the end of World
War II, was placed by the defeated country only one condition: that would be
saved the prerogatives of the emperor, who- by his own free will- renounced the
secular overt divine offspring. Moreover, even the Savoy monarchy asserted
itself, in the proclamation and promulgation of laws, as ruler by the grace
of God and the will of the nation, thus putting the divine favor before the
popular will.

Religion has ultimately been used for thousands of years as
an effective tool of government and discipline of the people. It was also used
as cement among the masses to build the identity of a tribe or a people and to
conduct wars waged by migration needs but supported by religious hatred, which
postulated the annihilation of the different, the infidels, the unbelievers .
Wars involving the sacrifice of countless fighters, however confident of finding
a reward in a happy afterlife, promised with both hands by the priests who
followed the armies in war, to take up morale.

Even today, however, and
unfortunately, are recurring episodes of religious intolerance - including those
of most media coverage: in Europe (the Balkans), Asia (Pakistan) and Africa
(Nigeria) - that materialize in bombings and massacres at the expense of ethnic
minorities, whose religious beliefs are different from those of the
majority.

The fact
remains that recent studies estimate 90% of the world population is believing
in the supernatural. A fact that leads us to reflect on the importance of
religion in the conditioning of human behavior, both for the individual and for
the whole nations.

So if Religions have proven to be powerful agents of
division and enmity in the development of human history, it may also become, if
faithfully performed, an instrument of peace and cohesion.

In this sense,
the Roman pontiffs have worked in recent decades, facilitating meetings between
representatives of the most important of the various religions, in particular of
the Christian, the Jewish and Muslim, the three monotheistic religions that
believe in one God, that is, the same for all.

The use of religion to
foster peace among peoples is perhaps the most effective way to get closer to
the desired result, although more laborious.It is not a question of simply
listening to the conversation, enlightened and conciliatory, of the most
illustrious representatives of the various religious faiths, speeches that
hardly scratch the minds of listeners, even benevolent.

It is about to
start, between peoples, initiatives of solidarity with the poor people, who
could be promoted jointly by the priests of the three religions, who in their
daily work of charity can promote the worship of the supernatural as a source of
love and mutual respect on the practical solidarity and cultural promotion, and
also encourage the 'independence of spirit.

The Assisi meetings
represent a preparatory phase for the profession of the principles and
directives on the paths that lead to reconciliation, but should be followed by
agreements on religious beliefs. What does "agreements on religious beliefs"
mean?

Often you
hear from the chief priests and other religious figures a distinction between
believers and non-believers, believers are trooped in the followers of religion,
non-believers are atheists, relatives of the devil, a ranking that in relatively
modern times is implied, but it was explicit until a few decades ago. Refer to
two classes of people: believers and non-believers, means that there are at
least some aspects of religion that might not be believed, certainly for good
reason, without thinking that whoever does not believe is prey for the devil or
weak mind.

These would be matters, the religious ones, which for some
appear credible and some have reasonable grounds for not believing. But the
divine revelations, contained in the holy scriptures, are credible or not? How
do we resolve the doubt among the non-believers? Or conversely how do you
convince the believers of the fallacy of their faith? Is it by chance a problem
of palate? As for those who like raw fish and those who don't? Does not seem to
be so, because it is not a question, her, of a reaction of the sense of taste,
which can vary from one to another being. It is a question of whether or not
there are certain realities that divide the minds, forming the class of
believers and of skeptics.

It is a question of offering to the human
kind demonstration of these realities and their relationship with the everyday
life of the human being, factors that could be verified by all. An example of
substance in the story is given us by some ancient peoples believed in the Sun
god. All perceived this reality, touched by hand, you can say, that the sun was
the only source of life, and that without the sun there would be no life.

The limited
culture of the past gave the Sun a supernatural character, that of a god in
mind, which sowed panic at the thought that went out to punish the wicked.
Modern culture tells us that the sun is not a god, but one of the many stars of
the infinite Universe, who gives us light and heat as a result of nuclear
reactions, that man is able to emulate even today on our planet.

It could
be argued - by those who have an unshakeable faith in the supernatural - that
behind the Sun there is a god who has turned to light and heat the naked Adam
and Eve, in order to enable them to start the human race. But so far what
science has not given us any updated knowledge.

Thus we see that the
progress of culture allows us to unravel the mysteries of nature, once
attributed to supernatural entities, and then to change the primordial beliefs,
yet sustainable in era in which they had developed.

Otherwise
we would be in the position of Galileo,who - arguing that the Earth be part of
a heliocentric system - contradicted with great personal risk the sacred
scriptures claiming instead the system be geocentric, as it was on Earth, that
had happened various divine manifastations,origin of religions, thereby
attributing to it a privileged position in the Universe.

Galileo had, at
the kind invitation of Pope Urban VIII, recant his belief tha, but concluded to
himself with the famous phrase, yet it moves!, intending to refer to the motion
of the Earth around the Sun contrary to the beliefs of the time that instead
imposed being the Earth fixed and the Sun going around, as indeed it was in
appearances. And it is said kind invitation due to the exceptional Pope respect
for the person of the scientist, in an era in which religious intolerance had
sacrificed many lives, created lay martyrs, people who deserved statues in the
squares, but not holiness.

It 's time
so that there be a tendency to abolish the categories of believers and
non-believers, classifying the members of these two antithetical categories in
interested in the religious matters and in not interested: for example you are
interested in astrophysics and others on the contrary are non- concerned: it
would be absurd to speak, in the latter discipline, of believers and
non-believers.

It 's time
also that be assigned to the various religions equal dignity, being all a
different expressionof the same human need of the supernatural. Everyone be
living his faith, without trying to impose it on others, but without excluding
the dialogue that celebrates the sacred in common, and that makes marginal the
traditions and rituals that appear to be in contrast.

For example, the
sacred scriptures existing in three monotheistic religions (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam) may constitute the theological glue to draw, thanks to
the common origin of the forefather Abraham, the reason for active
reconcilation, and to converge towards a common vision of the supernatural ,
which would constitute the source for a joint development of solidarity toward
the man, a harbinger of greater distributive justice, strong support for peace
among peoples.

Centers for cultural, spiritual and material promotion,
distribution of supplies, training the rational cultivation of the land and the
sustainable development, authentic missions were driven by a core consisting of
the nucleus by an imam, a rabbi and a monk, and flanked by technical mining
multi-religious centers would be sowers of peace highly effective in the world,
beyond the religious rites which, if not translated into daily practice of
neighbor love , could appear plastered in observance of their respective
traditions.

Which
traditions - like everything that is human - should instead be periodically
revised in the light of cultural evolution, which at times can clarify some of
those mysteries that appeared as such, some thousands of years ago, both to the
drafters of the codes of conduct drawn from alleged divine revelation, that to
the historians of the great prophets.

To be
immediate, a great work ,of peace and solidarity between peoples, may be
promoted by the three monotheistic religions from a place sacred to all, where
they have been living together since centuries. The place is Jerusalem, the
work of peace,between the local religious authorities,is to attain to a common
vision for the possible settlement of the conflict that for decades is opposing
the Israelis to the Palestinians. This vision - generated from education to
everyday practices of human solidarity, a sentiment that is already alive in the
youth of the two ethnic groups - may lead the parties to an agreement of mutual
dissatisfaction, but that the agreed that the agreed work of the religious would
convert in an agreement of mutual acceptance, when the spirit of solidarity
finally will prevail over conflicting political issues, related to ancient
historical traditions of both peoples. A utopian vision?

In a recent
homily, Pope Benedict XVI said that peace is a gift from God. Never as in this
case it would be possible to confirm that in the future, that thanks to the work
of agreed Lord's laborers in Jerusalem, it was possible to overcome
hatred and distrust which had hindered the achievement of peace in Palestine.
Had been so answered - by this way - the prayers to the shared God by the
faithful Jews, Muslims and Christians who live there.

Besides, it
must be admitted that, inversely, peace is not natural to man as it is religion,
with the result that when in absebce of enlightened leaders, man is led to
follow - like the rest of the animal kingdom a law of nature, namely, the law
of the strongest, effectively paintedby a Latin aphorism: "homo homini
lupus".

As an example of solidarity for the immediate future, would it be
desirable in Italian schools, at the hour of religion, the teaching of the
history of religions that, instead of stopping the teaching to the themes of the
Christian religion, convert that time in a lesson of religious culture across
the world, being the religion inescapable part of the human being, and therefore
also of general interest for the Muslim pupil and for the Jewish, for the Hindu
and Shinto, for the animist and for the Buddhist, the most immigrants who feel
entitled not to listen to a lecture that is confined to the Christian
catechesis, alien to their respective beliefs.

It would be
a first step in creating an understanding between believers of different
religions, that would cease to be, the one and the other, exclusive custodians
of truth, converging their commitment to human solidarity, a feeling common to
many religions, leaving of course, to each of believers, the freedom to deepen
the study of his own religion in specialized schools.

Is perhaps a
utopian vision to be able to gradually realize in the future that awaits us, a
collaboration interreligious, giving less importance to the unchanging
traditional rites, and turning our own eyes to the needs of man, acting
unanimously on a practical level to promote peace and to help reduce economic
imbalances in the world, and that with the use of the word and work, and (why
not?) with the help of prayer, all factors that are supported by high capacity
to direct their faithful, who is common to all religious leaders?

It will
also be utopian, this vision, but it is supported by the faith of those who
believe that it is positive to be confident, looking forwards. =